The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 35ExEcutivE bEst-sEllEr – thE 125
followed suit. This order paved the way
for an order for 27 radically-altered
U-125A which fulfilled a Japanese
Search and Rescue role. These aircraft
were the most heavily modified versions
of the 125, with a large observer’s
window ahead of the wing on both
sides of the fuselage and the ability to
drop life raft. Flying below 1,500ft at 150
knots a cover over the left wheel is
unscrewed, a raft placed in it, the
undercarriage extended and the life raft
drops, inflating on contact with the sea.
The 125-1000
The last stretch to the 125 was the
125-1000, an 800 with a 33inch stretch to
the fuselage married to a new engine,
the Pratt & Whitney PW305 with 5,225lbs
thrust. The improved dimensions were
reflected in cabin improvements. The
BAe 125-1000 prototype, G-AEXLR made
its first flight on 16 June 1990 and was
soon joined by two more test aircraft;
G-OPFC and the first production aircraft
G-ELRA. Unable to fully achieve its range
estimates the 125-1000 failed to emulate
the 125-800 and only 52 BAe 125-1000s
were built.
Change of ownership – from
BAe to Raytheon
Throughout the early 1990s British
Aerospace had major financial problems,
and began investigating sales of some of
its core businesses. So the 125
programme became a stand-alone
company known as BAe Corporate Jets,
then earning approximately £300m per
year and employing 950 in the UK.
It was offered for sale and was bought
by in 1993 Raytheon, an American firm
for £250m.
Raytheon rebranded the aircraft as
the Hawker and introduced the Hawker
800XP (Extended Performance) an 800
with essentially the wing of the 1000,
4,650lb-thrust Garrett TFE731-5BR
turbofans with thrust reversers, new
systems, interior and more fuel capacity.
In 2006 came two new variants the
Hawker 750 and the 900XP. The 750 had
more storage but less range than the
800XP. The Hawker 900XP offered
greater range than the 850XP with its
TFE731-50R 4,660lbs thrust engines and
could fly non-stop from London City
airport to Goose Bay in Canada with six
passengers. The fuselage, wings andvertical tail were still assembled and
partially equipped at Airbus Broughton
but final assembly was gradually
transferred to Wichita, Kansas. Production
of the Hawker (or 125) ended in 2012
after a business restructuring at Hawker
Beechcraft.
Altogether 944 125s were produced
in the UK, and when production
terminated after 50 years and with a
grand total of 1,731 built, the 125 was
clearly the most prolific of all UK jet civil
aircraft. ■Data BAe 125-800
Length 51 ft 2 in
Wingspan 51 ft 5 in
Height 17 ft 7 in
MTOW 27,400 lbs
Cruising speed 510 mph
Range 2,450 mls
Passengers Max. 14
Engine Garrett TFE731
4,300lbs thrustThe fourth BAe 125-1000 G-LRBJ which
flew in 1991. The 125-1000, was 33 inches
longer than the 125-800 with a new
engine, the Pratt & Whitney PW305 with
5,225lbs thrust. (BAE SYSTEMS)